[Another day in America] John Henson racially profiled at jewelry store

I show you evidence from the US Department of Education, Forbes, the American Bar Association, the New York Times, etc., that African Americans suffer discrimination, and you ignore it in favor of your own personal experience (of being African American?). Even if you were African American, you would not be able to speak for the entire United States.

You're being a troll-- a racist troll--without shame. Then you put something about Christ in your sig. You are a shameful example of people who claim to be Christian. Your egocentrism is colossal, thinking that you know the reality of African American lives. You're probably one of the white males who think he knows what it's really like for pregnant women too.

I'm going to save the precious time of my life by putting you on my ignore list. I encourage you to do the same to me. Let's continue this conversation at Jesus' feet in heaven, shall we? Until then. . . .

 

And whites have a better networking system than other races. It's just true. Even in your career.

Indians tend to help Indians, Asians tend to help Asians, Jews tends to help Jews - people help people like themselves! It's not big thing - it's not blatant racism is just the way humanity works. We help those we relate to better.

Blacks don't have that networking advantage to the degree some other groups do have and that in turn costs them opportunities.

 

Networking is more important for liberal arts degrees were you don't learn any actual skills. Networking isn't that important for STEM degrees such as engineering because you are actually learning a valuable skill.

 

Not true. Its all about who you know.

 

Not really. I know some introverted engineers who are really good at what they do and are employed. The fact is that with liberal arts majors, you don't really learn any tangible skills. Those types of majors are heavily dependent on on 'who you know' way more so than an engineering major.

So you have an engineering degree?

With an engineering major, as long as you can maintain a 3.0+ gpa from a decent school, you will easily find an internship between your junior and senior year and that is pretty much all the 'networking' you will need.

Maintaining that 3.0+ gpa though is easier said than done for that type of major though.

 

To a point, with respect to the length and complexity of your job search; and the obtainment of certain disproportionately popular yet rare positions. But sheer numbers dictate that not every hiring manager has friends who can fill their vacancy with the skills and abilities they're looking for, or that they're so obtuse as to ignore a genuinely talented or likable candidate during their selection process. Also in the ongoing context of race there are several socially inept caucasian, male job candidates who also lack any unique skill or pedigree, and have just as much trouble finding work unless they move to a non-competitive job market.

 

At lower level positions this is true but climbing the ranks still requires networking and race plays a role.

 

Agree that managerial positions regardless of fields requires some level of 'knowing the right people', but as long as you have a decent GPA as an engineering major, you will get an entry level job... in the actual field you studied for.

The whole 'College students can't find a job in today's economy' thing doesn't apply to some STEM degrees including engineering. Our economy will always need engineers. The demand for political pundits is far less.

Students out of high school need to learn how wasteful a liberal arts degree can be. Too many kids are going to college just to go to college and not actually caring about learning actual skills.

 

I'm an engineer working for a major Fortune 500 company, and I can assure you that this is not true. To some extent, it is easier to get hired based on your skill, but networking definitely gives you an edge. But I see groups of people of the same race and from the same school getting fast track management promotions all the time. These guys go to football games together, Vegas vacations together etc. Old boys networks are a real thing around these parts, and we're probably one of the more progressive companies in the industry.

It is also almost disturbing to me how few African Americans get hired around here. I don't attribute it all to the above - I know there aren't that many AA STEM majors to begin with. But man... It feels lonely sometimes.

 

They go to college to get that four year degree because so many companies nowadays, no matter the profession, want you to have a Bachelors Degree. They don't even really care what it is in, as long as you have it. That's why people waste their time with a non-STEM degree. The world we live in now.

 

We're not at a place where black people are associated with positions of wealth and power. At most their dominance is at the entertainment level of artists and athletes. At worst, they comprise big proportional percentages of the male and female prison population.

While I do believe in a Kennedy-esque do for your country not what your country doors for you spiel, that doesn't discount the facts that the nation has a growing divide.

Rather than boxing your own ears, look at the sources, biased and otherwise, and spend some time and effort to break it down and take the useful bits.

I had the privilege of learning statistics. It's a big underpinning of our numbers driven society that both sides use heavily.

Asians are good engineers but uncommonly crack that glass ceiling.

Networking plays a broad role in all levels... hiring (company cultural fit), promotions (what do his peers think), leadership (does he have it, do others think so too).

Does that mean it's everything? Absolutely not, but part of this luck factor has strong roots in your social and professional network, that's something not all cultures teach.

 

I have multiple degrees including an engineering degree from UT. Also a 3.0 isn't a good gpa. You need to have at least a 3.5. You can get a crappy engineering job if you want. The lack of STEM people is BS. There are plenty of people out there. Also networking is super important. The people who really rise up are not those introverted engineers. Internships are also BS unless it is with a name organization. The real world is tough. There are a lot of smart people and you are competing with them. If you just want some job you can get it, but I am sure you don't just want some job.

 

In my field I work with structural and mechanical engineers all the time and networking certainly leads to success. I agree that people with STEM degrees find it easier to get jobs than people with liberal arts degrees but once there they still need networking and interpersonal skills to succeed.

For example if I have a project that needs a structural engineer. I'm most likely going to go with an engineer that I've worked with or someone who is recommended by someone I work with. Further if that engineer has little personal skills I'm less likely to bring them in on the project if they can't communicate with the client and the rest of the team. Given how much money is at stake in a building I'm going to feel better about working with someone who can help the client understand difficult issues rather than just anyone who has an engineering degree and passed their PE examine.

 

To add another personal anecdote. While in architecture grad school. I took a structural steel class in the engineering department. The professor would frequently criticize the students for their inability to intuitively understand the concepts and to communicate that understanding. He made us write essays on midterms and finals to try to see how well they could verbally communicate the issues.

 

I guess I need to be more clear in my statement. Yes, networking is a factor if you want to advance your career, but I think many of you STEM folks are not speaking in a relative sense and only going by your own personal experience. I'm referring to the importance of networking relative a liberal arts major. Networking is considerably more important with liberal arts majors as there are no sets of explicit skills from your degree that you can sell.

 

I think you are underselling liberal arts majors. My best friend in college graduated with an English / Folklore studies major which seems like a stereotypical useless liberal arts major. He got a job relatively quickly as a technical writer and within a couple of years was out earning me who got hired right out of school as a CAD drafter. Language and communication skills are still valued in the job world.

 

I've just skimmed through the last few pages of this thread and I'm sad but not surprised to see the model minority myth trotted out again. This myth is frequently used as a way to club groups like black Americans and Hispanics by pointing out how Asians succeeded.

The problem with this myth is that besides being damaging towards relationships between Asians and those of other ethnicities it ignores much of history. I've found that many including Asian Americans who know very little of the history of Asians in America. For most of US history Asians weren't a model minority. Prior to the 1960's the stereotype of Asians, particular Chinese, was as corrupt and decadent. It was only following the repeals of the Exclusion Acts and the enactment of Civil Rights that things changed. The generation that built the Model Minority weren't Asians who had been here for generations but immigrants who came after most of the legal barriers were removed. Also these were people like my parents who for the most part were the most educated and motivated people. Even then for the generations that had been in the US prior to Civil Rights many of them didn't suddenly succeed and for a longtime Chinatowns continued to suffer from poverty and crime even as Asians as a whole succeeded.

 

The other thing to note is that the underlying root for things like the Chinese Exclusion Act haven't actually gone away. Asian immigrants have always been perceived as people that could never integrate into American culture. In fact if you read the dissent of US v. Wong Kim Ark (the case that cemented birthright citizenship), the justices flat out said that Chinese immigrants (unlike other immigrants) didn't deserve birthright citizenship because they were incapable of assimilating and would always remain a foreign people. The same logic was behind the Japanese internment camps because even second generation Japanese Americans were considered disloyal and incapable of being truly American.

You still see it today. I'm frequently asked if I was born abroad despite the fact that my accent would clearly indicate that I'm from the US. Many times people flat out dont believe that I am from the US which is quite absurd. I'm sure you deal with the same experience. I realize its just ignorance on the part of those asking but it represents a stereotype that never quite disappeared.

 

Structural engineer here, networking is very important if you want to get ahead, especially if you don't want to get pigeonholed....its easier for a white younger engineer to relate with upper level management (golf, drinking, same college) than it is for a minority

 

It's pretty glib to proclaim that Austin's shrinking black population today is the result of "economics"when government enforced policies that ended in the 70s led to the way things are now.

How long was a traditional fixed rate mortgage then? If you've read the article beyond the maps, what was the effect of predatory and discriminatory loans against disadvantaged minorities that continued before the last financial crisis?

Since that's a private rather than government matter, is that classified as an "economic" factor?